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Pick the Right Kodi Box (UPDATED FEB 2015)
thanks bodhi, now at least i'll stop worrying...
Awesome thread. Thanks for all the info.

What are your thoughts on a Group 0.5 for playing music only? I have a couple xboxs, but they are big and clunky. I am looking for something small, cheap, low power and silent that I can use to play music through a powered speaker. Video is optional as I can use web interface or some of the remote apps to control xmbc. How about someday using android remote to control my android xbmc box ;-)

Best,
mtense
Been searching the posts looking for some info on whether the latest Zino's will work (nicely) with XBMC and no luck - so asking here.

Here's the link: 4 Zino PC's to Compare

Obviously trying to keep the expense to a minimum.

Intended Use:
- Not concerned about playing 1080p, 720p is fine.
- Would like to stream from Hulu/CBS etc - either within XBMC with BlueCop's Addon's or direct using Hulu desktop or the CBS website.
- Not concerned with wireless, using a Gigabit network
- Not interested in playing BluRay discs

It's not an nVidia GPU - but if running Windows 7 - will the GPU handle the video processing or is it all on the CPU?

Is 3 or 4 GB of memory enough?

Also - I could upgrade the low end model to the same CPU as the next one for $50, but given I can get an additional Gig of memory and double the hard drive for another $30 - likely that would be better if the Sempron isn't beefy enough.

Anybody using any of these currently? Thanks for the assistance...
Quote:but if running Windows 7 - will the GPU handle the video processing or is it all on the CPU?
Decode will be done on GPU (but you must running win7)
nemek Wrote:Decode will be done on GPU (but you must running win7)

Thanks - Yes, I do plan to run Windows 7.

So does the low end Zino HD have sufficient guts to handle all I need?
- AMD Sempron™ II V160, 2.4GHz, 512K
- 3GB2 Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz
- Integrated ATI HD4250 Mobility RadeonTM

The next model up has the same GPU but moves up to the AMD Athlon™ II X2 P360, 2.3GHz, Dual Core 1MB CPU. You don't get away form the integrated until the third (more pricey) one. From what I've read - an ION based nettop PC (Revo or Zotac type solution) would provide enough guts to handle things and less cost than the 3 upper models of the Zino?


On the Zino - I read in another post that a user reinstalled Windows using the 32 bit version of Windows 7 instead - and that it "played" better with XBMC - wondering if there is any truth to that.

Thanks for any additional feedback.
GPU will play every full hd movie. Thing is about cpu's if they are fast enough to handle menu fluently (some skins request fast cpu).
I'm not sure if I'm in group 2 or 3?

Here is my workflow----rip blu-ray with anydvdhd----transfer files to unraid server----XBMC on which HTPC? (this is what I'm trying to determine)------ output to Denon receiver (can HD audio decode everything)------to samsung HD tv.

Basically I want my htpc/media software to allow me to "hear" HD Audio via my Denon (I don't care if the HTPC or Denon does the HD Audio processing).

Before I found this thread I was thinking of getting the newest Mac Mini (hdmi) with XBMC, however it is still unclear to me that I will be able to "hear" HD Audio with this configuration ( am I in group 3?). Thanks
yes, GROUP 3 for you! http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=94199
Yep, a new Mac Mini won't cut it unless you are willing to tweak.

Thanks. In the end I decided to go with the Boxee Box. It appears to meet all my requirements. I hope it works....
Gunserotti Wrote:Thanks. In the end I decided to go with the Boxee Box. It appears to meet all my requirements. I hope it works....
I know Boxee is built on/around XBMC, but can the Boxee Box run XBMC natively?
No. Its locked down.

poofyhairguy Wrote:so if there is something missing please let me know.

really nice thread. congrats poofy! Nod


some suggestions of things you can probably add:

- WAF hardware (irda receiver, harmony, etc.)

- differentiate linux/windows hardware(which hw works under which OS best)
for example GT430 is true a winner and imho definitly the best HTPC GPU from NVIDIA. but if you use windows there are also some ATI GPUs worth to mention, which are cheaper, need half the power(energy efficiency) but can give you pretty the same features...

- energy efficiency/power usage information


what do you think about that ?

anyway keep up that good work. very informative !


best greetz
nemek Wrote:GPU will play every full hd movie. Thing is about cpu's if they are fast enough to handle menu fluently (some skins request fast cpu).

maybe things may change when dirty regions reaches final status Smile
What about the built in GPU of the new i3 CPUs, will we be fine with using that or will we need a discreet video card?
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